Combine fire damages $580K in Cedarville Twp. soybean field

UPDATE @ 9 p.m.

Flames were lapping up around the cab of a combine harvester this afternoon when the driver got out.

The fire to the combine, reported shortly before 4 p.m., caused monetary damages of $580,000 to the vehicle, which caught fire in a 100-acre soybean field, said Chief Scott Baldwin of the Cedarville Twp. Volunteer Fire Department.

The combine was about a half mile from Rakestraw Road at the time of the fire. The cause is under investigation, but Baldwin said a hot bearing on a pulley is suspected.

No injuries were reported, and the driver worked for the farm owner.

FIRST REPORT

A neighbor reported hearing a blast this afternoon after a combine harvester caught fire in a soybean field.

The fire was reported shortly before 4 p.m. in a field about a half mile from Rakestraw Road near Straley Road, just south of Cedarville in Greene County.

When firefighters arrived, heavy smoke was showing.

There were no reports of injuries.